Taxi tax idea to fund anti-drunk marshals angers city's cabbies
Taxi drivers yesterday reacted angrily to proposals which could force them to pay an extra annual bill to finance marshals who will keep order among queues of drunken revellers waiting for a ride home on Friday and Saturday nights.
Sheffield's city centre management team has put forward proposals to extend a "taxi marshal" scheme which has been used during the festive period when large numbers of people are out in pubs and clubs for Christmas and New Year parties.
But if the
ADVERTISEMENTidea is approved it will cost around £33,000 – a charge which city centre manager David Parker says should be met by the 857 hackney carriage drivers who use the ranks in Sheffield, leading to a bill of around £40 each.
Last night, Hafeas Rehman, the chairman of Sheffield's Taxi Trade Association, said his members would be "extremely angry" to be faced with another bill on top of the £155 a year they are already charged for their council licence.
Mr Rehman said: "We will not stand for any further charges and although I had heard that this was an idea the city centre management team had been talking about I did not realise it was a proposal which had gone this far.
"If the council do agree to bringing in this charge on our drivers we will be taking action. We have co-operated with the taxi marshals which have been used at Christmas time because that is what the council wanted us to do.
"But we simply do not need them throughout the year because there really aren't enough people in town to warrant having marshals on the ranks. Even on a busy Saturday night people only have to wait about 15 minutes for a cab.
"If the city centre manager can find a budget from somewhere else for the marshals then so be it. Maybe he could find the cost out of his own wages instead of asking us to do that at a time when everybody is struggling to make a living."
Sheffield Council's licensing committee, which is responsible for the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles in the city, will make the ultimate decision over whether to levy the charge when it meets at the Town Hall next Tuesday.
In a report to that meeting Mr Parker says that the introduction of trained security staff to act as marshals on a year round basis would enable the city to achieve "certain core standards that contribute to the overall environment".
His report continues: "Currently there are 857 licensed hackney carriages and approximately 1,400 private hire taxis in Sheffield.
"One would think that would be an ample number to shift the night time population of the city centre.
"However, take into account that private hire must be pre-booked and that not all black cabs work nights or the city centre, and the numbers that are available are severely reduced.
"On a weekend this usually results in a 'free for all' and while taxi ranks can be the scene for aggressive behaviour between potential customers, taxi drivers themselves can also be on the receiving end of such behaviour.
"Not only the drivers, but also their vehicles, come under attack on occasions from members of the public with alleged grievances."
But Mr Rehman said violence against taxis and drivers only happened on "very isolated occasions" and added: "This just seems like a way of justifying the need for marshals, and we just don't think it is necessary.
"There are plenty of cabs to go round ."
Black cab drivers in Sheffield faced further controversy yesterday after it emerged that they are seeking to put up their fares by more than three times the rate of inflation as diesel prices continue to rise at the pumps.
Mr Rehman's association is planning to ask licensing chiefs for permission to increase the cost per mile by 20 pence, from £1.51 to £1.73, following price increases already implemented by private hire firms.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnew ... 6708630.jp
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